The first arrivals of a new wave of recovery workers went straight to work Monday in devastated parts of Waveland and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

WWL

Corps members get stipends, and earn scholarships for their work, plus priceless on the job experience.

They came to help, but to hurricane victims, their efforts have become essential. Thirteen months after Katrina, they are still cleaning up the mess left behind.

Ten members of the Minnesota Conservation Corps started a four-week schedule of rebuilding, including chopping trees, and helping repair the retreat Center at St. Augustine Seminary in Bay St. Louis. They sanded, sweated, and sang as they worked, happy to be able to lend a hand to storm victims.

"The people down here are absolutely wonderful. They've been really kind to us, and it is nice to come down here and actually help out with their rebuilding effort. (What do you take back to Minnesota from this experience?) First of all, I think I'm going to move to the South when I'm older," said volunteer Justin Wood.

The Minnesota group is part of the National Association of Conservation Corps, which has set up the Gulf Coast Recovery Corps with a grant from the federal government's Americorps program parent agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service.

"It is really reassuring to see so many of my peers interested in making this effort happen, but it can sometimes be intimidating to know ho much needs to be done, but every time we turn around, there's a new group coming to help," said volunteer Tyler Hesseltine.

Over the next six to nine months they are expecting 30 crews from all over the country to come work on projects in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Corps members get stipends, and earn scholarships for their work, plus priceless on the job experience.

"It's really cool especially being a female to get those skills down, learn how to do that, and teach it to other people. I really enjoy passing on my knowledge. (What will you do with this later on?) Hopefully in the future I'd like to know how to build my own house," said Corps member Michelle Kmentt.

But first they're rebuilding Jack Hyman's house in Waveland. Katrina left him with a bare slab, but now the sheetrock is being installed, and Hyman is just amazed.

"I look at them, I say my God did I have that much energy when I was a kid? They are tremendous, and they are multi-taskers, they can do more than one thing at one time. That's unbelievable," said Waveland resident Jack Hyman.

And the Corps members say the work is just as rewarding for them.

“To help Jack is just amazing. He is such a great person to work with and work for,” said member Katie Muilenburg.

Organizers say the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps enrolls 23,000 young men and women in 40-states each year and they contribute about $13 million hours to service projects.